


in the mirror you’re a work of art, but this is real life

by spinning_out



Category: Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, One Shot, it’s not explicit there’s just a sentence reference towards the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28902699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spinning_out/pseuds/spinning_out
Summary: Brad comes home late one night, and he and David get into an argument
Relationships: Brad Bakshi/David Brittlesbee
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	in the mirror you’re a work of art, but this is real life

**Author's Note:**

> i had an argument between brad and david written in my notes app, and was in the mood to write some angst so, that’s pretty much all this is
> 
> title is from Dazzle by Oh Wonder

Brad quietly opened the front door, carefully discarding his shoes and jacket once he got inside. It was late, later than he had expected to get home. Brad had had a meeting with a few representatives from Montreal that night, so he stayed at the office after hours. What _wasn’t_ in the initial plans, was him going out for drinks with one of the guys he was meeting with. Brad explained that he would stay for just a little bit, but minutes turned into just over an hour. He should’ve been home around 9:30, but ended up coming back closer to midnight. 

Brad walked into the noiseless house, being careful as to not disturb said silence. He was hoping that David hadn’t been too worried with him gone. 

Brad and David had been dating for almost a year now, and had been living together for a few months. He loved David a lot, and David loved him back, which was hard for Brad to grasp sometimes. Brad wasn’t usually the most vocal about his feelings, but he was always honest when he told David how much he loved him.

In their few months of sharing a house, this night wasn’t the first time either of them had a late meeting, but it was definitely the latest Brad had ever come home. 

At first, Brad couldn’t see anything very clearly in the house. He assumed that David was already asleep and was about to make his way towards their bedroom, when a light turned on. Brad stopped in his tracks to see David sitting on the couch, staring at a spot on the floor. 

“Hey, babe.” Brad said gently, coming to sit next to David on the couch.  
“You’re home late.”  
“I lost track of the time. But hey, I’m home now.”  
“I was starting to get worried,” David said. “You didn’t text or call or anything.”  
“Shit, it must’ve slipped my mind.” Brad reached out to put an arm around David, but pulled away when David tensed. Brad folded his hands in his lap and sat silently next to David. 

“Where were you?” David asked.  
“Well, I had the meeting, but I went out for drinks with one of the guys from corporate.”  
David turned his head to look at him with wide eyes.  
“Don’t worry, I only had one beer,” Brad reassured. “I was okay to drive home.”

David pressed his lips together in a tight line, looking around the room again. He closed his eyes and sighed. 

Brad knew that David had been in a bad mood during the rest of the day too, especially after Poppy was giving him shit during the staff meeting. Brad coming home late obviously wasn’t helping. 

“You should’ve told me where you were.” David repeated.  
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”  
“Who was the corporate guy?”  
“His name is Leo, he asked if I wanted to grab a drink as we were packing up, and I said yes.”  
David shifted in his seat, opening his mouth to speak but closing it again quickly.  
“Are you.. _jealous?_ ” Brad asked, and David didn’t respond. “Dave, it wasn’t a date.”

“I was just worried, that’s all.” David stated. “Like, what if something happened to you? What if something happened and I couldn’t come help you because I had no idea where you were.”  
“Nothing happened, though.”  
“That doesn’t mean it couldn’t have!” David snapped. “I care about you, and I just wanted to know if you were safe.”  
“Well, I was. And I am now. Are we done here?”

David’s facial expression changed. Clearly, Brad asking if this was over didn’t sit right with him. 

“Why didn’t you do anything during the staff meeting today?” David asked. “While everything was going to shit.”  
“David, do we have to have this conversation right now?”  
David stood abruptly. “I think we do, Brad.”  
Brad huffed and crossed his arms across his chest, watching David begin to pace.

“I felt humiliated today when Poppy was yelling at me. I know it’s definitely not the first time she’s done it, but when she constantly berates me like that I feel like a failure. You’re usually the one to stand up for me, even before we got together you would do that. So what the fuck happened today?”

Brad wanted to interject, but he knew from other times they’ve argued that it was better to let David get everything out of his system. He dropped his head, listening to David as he continued to ramble. 

“I know you like to watch chaos play out for some psychotic reason, but not having you back me up when you very easily could have? Well, it hurt. It hurt a lot, Brad.”  
“And I’m sorry, David. By the time I was gonna step in, Poppy was practically done yelling. I didn’t think it would be bad to let you stand up for yourself for once!”  
“For once? Oh, cut the shit, Brad.”  
“Are we really gonna fight over this?”  
“What do you think is happening?” David asked, staring at Brad incredulously. “You act like you never fucking care about anything! Sometimes it feels like you don’t even care about me!”

Brad wasn’t having any of this. The last thing he wanted to be doing right now was fighting, and over this, no less. 

“I do care about you!” Brad exclaimed. “Just because I didn’t intervene this time doesn’t mean you don’t matter to me!”  
“Then I need you to prove it!” David countered. 

Brad furrowed his eyebrows. 

David sighed. “You stay silent in moments when I need you, you shy away when I try and be affectionate, or you go out for drinks with some guy from work and don’t even remember to tell me!? I get worried sick!”

Brad tried to stand but David pointed an accusatory finger towards his chest, making him back up and sit back down.

“You’re reluctant to show that you care about me whenever we’re not alone. You go and act all cold whenever someone tries to get close to you, slipping back into your old habits of prioritizing people’s opinions over what you love. I understand that input matters to you, but I’m confused as to what you want. You don’t act like yourself, Brad. Not the you that I’ve come to know. Do you really still care that much about your fucking reputation?”

“Are you being fucking serious right now? I said that I was sorry!”  
“Sorry isn’t always enough! I _hate_ it when you act like this, like you can get away with anything just because you apologize once.”  
“David-”  
David gave Brad a pointed look, effectively quieting him. 

“People usually let you get away with things, because you intimidate them, but that doesn’t work on me anymore. I’ve seen what you’re like. I just need you to show me how much you care, because you haven’t exactly been doing very great at that so far.”

“At least I have enough of a fucking backbone to stick up for myself!” Brad shouted, now fully standing. 

David’s expression changed once again, now looking hurt. Brad didn’t mean what he said, he _knew_ that David panicked when it came to confrontation, he _knew_ that David was right about Brad not always supporting him. Brad reached out to grab David’s hand, but he twisted away and moved quickly down the hallway, leaving Brad standing alone in the living room. 

Brad sunk down onto the couch, placing his head in his hands. He heard the sound of the bedroom door close at the end of the hall. Brad slowly stood again and walked towards their room. He knocked softly. 

“David?” He called out quietly.

David didn’t answer, but Brad could see his shadow moving around from under the door. He pressed his back against the door and slid down it, letting his head lean back. He could hear David move near the door too, picking up on the sound of sniffling. They sat quietly, both leaning against the same space of the door, just on opposite sides. David’s stifled crying subsided within a few minutes, but neither of them made any effort to move. 

When the light in the bedroom turned out, Brad took that as his signal to leave. He wandered back into the living room, grabbing a blanket off the back of one of the chairs. He discarded his sweater and slacks, laying down on the couch in just his undershirt and boxers. He would’ve changed into actual pajamas, but David was in their room, so he didn’t really have much of a choice. Brad pulled the blanket up over his shoulders, closing his eyes trying his best to fall asleep. 

When Brad woke up, it was close to 7:00 AM. The first thing Brad saw was David, tucked into the corner of the couch, close to Brad’s feet. His knees were tucked up against his chest, and he was nervously biting at the edges of his nails. Brad was hoping that the morning wouldn’t just be a continuation of their argument. He wasn’t even sure if David had realized he was awake yet. Brad propped himself up on his elbows, catching David’s attention. 

“I’m sorry for getting so upset last night. It wasn’t a good day for me and I shouldn’t have taken it all out on you.” David explained.  
“You don’t have to apologize. I’m sorry that I haven’t been there for you as much as I should be. I promise to try harder.”  
“Thank you.” David said, and Brad saw him smile for the first time since the night before. 

“I didn’t mean it when I said you didn’t have a backbone.” Brad confessed. “Last night was probably the worst argument we’ve had, and I just wasn’t thinking.”  
“It’s okay.” David answered, reaching out to grab Brad’s hand. “We just have to communicate a little more, I think.”  
“That sounds good. I don’t like it when we fight, but I understand why you were mad at me.”  
David pulled Brad close, wrapping him in a tight hug. He ran a hand through Brad’s curls, letting Brad rest his head against his chest. 

Brad lifted his head to look David in the eyes, and David placed a hand on the back of Brad’s neck to give him a tender kiss. Brad was soon smiling too wide to keep kissing David, so he broke away and laid back down, draping himself across the top of David’s body.

Brad almost fell asleep again, cherishing the feeling of David’s fingers running across his back. He shivered lightly each time David reached the small of his back. David laughed softly, but then went silent for another moment. 

“Brad?” David asked.  
Brad listened to the hum in David’s chest as he spoke. “Yeah?”  
“No matter how many arguments we get into, you’re still always gonna be the most important thing in the world to me.”  
“I know, and I promise I’m always gonna be here for you, even when I’m acting distant.”  
David kissed Brad on the forehead and gently moved him off of his chest. “We should really get up now.”  
Brad groaned, letting David pull him up from the couch. “Oh come on, we still have almost 20 minutes.”  
“Exactly.” David said, laughing shyly.

Brad playfully rolled his eyes and smiled, understanding where this would end up going. He cupped David’s face in his hands and captured his lips in a passionate kiss. Maybe the morning wasn’t so bad after all. 

As Brad and David rode the elevator up to the 5th floor of the MQ studio, Brad looked over at David. He kept his fleece zipped fully up for the time being, which made Brad laugh, because _he_ was technically the reason for that. David caught Brad staring and reached out to take Brad’s hand in his own. 

“You know that I love you, right?” David asked, studying each feature of Brad’s face.  
Brad blushed, leaning over to kiss David’s cheek and rest his head on his shoulder. He squeezed David’s hand. 

“I love you too.”

And when he said it, he couldn’t have been more honest if he tried.

**Author's Note:**

> this was initially gonna end with them breaking up, because i’m evil, but one of my friends (hi abbi, i know you’ll read this) told me not to so i revised it 
> 
> tell me any/all of your thoughts in the comments! they’re always so much fun to read and i really appreciate the feedback <3


End file.
